problems with French word 'charbon"
quentin skrabec
Vernian obscura et Trivia 7
Quentin R. Skrabec Ph.D.
The Translation, Etymological, And Metallurgical Mysteries Of Lincoln Island
In Mysterious Island (1873), Verne seems to correctly foresee the rise of anthracite coal[i] replacing charcoal as the fuel in ironmaking furnaces needed to make steel. Verne’s substitution of coal for charcoal in his primitive Catalan Forge in Mysterious Island (1873) is a crucial prediction for Vernian metallurgists. Verne would have known that Catalan Forge processes before 1885 used charcoal. Verne’s use of coal would have been a significant breakthrough in the metallurgy of the future.
It doesn’t seem to be an error that Verne used coal. Verne in Mysterious Island correctly details the chemistry that would only be entirely accepted in the 1900s. The most remarkable passage for me in Mysterious Island (1873) is Verne's description of blast furnace chemistry: “Thus arranged, under the influence of the air from the bellows, the coal would change into carbonic acid [carbon dioxide], then into oxide of carbon [carbon monoxide], which would release the oxygen from the oxide of iron."[ii] The understanding of the role of carbon monoxide in blast furnace chemistry was being researched at the University of Paris and other universities in the 1850s.[iii] The complete theory of carbon monoxide reduction was not commonly known until Octave Leopold Boudouard of the University of Paris published his “Boudouard Reaction” in 1901. However, there appears to be a translation and/or an etymological issue with the meaning of “charbon,” which, depending on other factors, may mean pure carbon, charcoal, or coal.
The French word charbon is used in Verne’s description of iron making on Mysterious Island.[iv] Using the word charbon would suggest a possible translation problem. Still, most translations, such as the W. G. Kingston translation of 1875, the Stephen White translation of 1875, and the Jordan Stump translation of 2001, use coal.
French habits of speech, a knowledge of 19th-century metallurgy, French industrial history, and French idiosyncrasies play a role. And maybe even more importantly, an understanding of the etymology of the French words- charbon and houille[v]. In 19th-century coal technology, you have an evolutionary mix of the English words charcoal, coal, anthracite coal, bituminous coal, coke, and carbon, and the French words charbon and houille regarding their technological use. The confusion with the word coal in technical writing was noted as early as 1860.[vi] One issue is clear: before the 20th century, French to English dictionaries used “charbon” for coal and charcoal[vii]. Verne himself uses charbon for both as well. In my French texts, Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864), 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1870), and Mysterious Island (1873), “charbon” and “houille” are both used for coal. In Underground City (1877), Verne uses “houille” throughout and even discusses the Etymology of the word- “houille.” By the 1880s, the use of “charbon” for coal significantly declined in favor of “houille” for coal, which may reflect the industrial conversion from charcoal to coal in furnaces in the early 1880s. I am currently researching these issues.[viii] IDEAS????
[i] Anthracite ("coal-like") is a hard, very low content of volatile compact variety of coal that has a high luster. It has the highest carbon content (between 92.1% and 98%), the fewest impurities, and the highest caloric content of all types of coal, which also includes bituminous coal and lignite.
[ii] Ibid 8
[iii] Rémy Nicolle, “History of the iron furnace using the physical-chemical blast furnace model,” Metallurgical Research Technology, 120, 108 (2023)
[iv] Amazon Bilingual edition of Mysterious Island, Jan 2, 2015, p. 464
[v] There is one fascinating paragraph in Underground City (1877) where Verne addresses the use of the word “houille” itself. "Whether the French word for coal (houille) is derived from farrier Houillos, who lived in Belgium in the twelfth century, we may assume the that the [coal] beds of Great Britain were the first ever worked.
[vi] A. Hume, “ A Few Notes on Coal,” Ulster Journal of Archaeology, First Series, Vol. 8 (1860), pp. 172-174 “Many of the mistakes which have arisen on this subject are attributable to the ambiguity of
the term employed. Thus a "coal" may mean, first, an ember or coal-of-fire,; second, a piece of charcoal; or, third, the mineral coal in any of its forms”
[vii] The Book of Royal Phraseology (1828) uses "chardon de terre" for coal.
[viii] I am presenting working with the Journal of Historical Metallurgy on the translation and lexicon of coal/charcoal in steel and ironmaking processes.
Chris Moser
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Jean-Louis Trudel
I don't have a lot to add, but I find it fascinating. In French, "charbon" is indeed ambiguous, esp. in common parlance outside of the scientific and technical fields. "Charcoal" is either "charbon" or "charbon de bois". "Coal" can be "charbon", "charbon de terre", and "houille" (along with its specific varieties such as anthracite, lignite, etc.) In French, context usually helps to understand which "charbon" is meant, but that doesn't always help. I did some quick Googling, and got the impression Verne didn't use "charbon de bois" a lot. There's a reference to "charbon de bois" in Jean-Marie Cabidoulin, where it's used on a ship to keep rats out of the food, and another in Le Volcan d'or, where it's used to darken eyelids (to avoid snow-blindness, I think). One wonders if soot was meant in either case. And Michel might have had a hand in the latter.
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quentin skrabec
Sent: Friday, March 1, 2024 9:22 AM
To: jules-ve...@googlegroups.com <jules-ve...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [JVF] problems with French word 'charbon"
I don't have a lot to add, but I find it fascinating. In French, "charbon" is indeed ambiguous, esp. in common parlance outside of the scientific and technical fields. "Charcoal" is either "charbon" or "charbon de bois". "Coal" can be "charbon", "charbon de terre", and "houille" (along with its specific varieties such as anthracite, lignite, etc.) In French, context usually helps to understand which "charbon" is meant, but that doesn't always help. I did some quick Googling, and got the impression Verne didn't use "charbon de bois" a lot. There's a reference to "charbon de bois" in Jean-Marie Cabidoulin, where it's used on a ship to keep rats out of the food, and another in Le Volcan d'or, where it's used to darken eyelids (to avoid snow-blindness, I think). One wonders if soot was meant in either case. And Michel might have had a hand in the latter.
I don't have any ideas but I cpmmend you for what you have shared...its fascinating!
On Thu., Feb. 29, 2024, 08:29 quentin skrabec, <qrsk...@gmail.com> wrote:
Vernian obscura et Trivia 7
Quentin R. Skrabec Ph.D.
The Translation, Etymological, And Metallurgical Mysteries Of Lincoln Island
In Mysterious Island (1873), Verne seems to correctly foresee the rise of anthracite coal[i] replacing charcoal as the fuel in ironmaking furnaces needed to make steel. Verne’s substitution of coal for charcoal in his primitive Catalan Forge in Mysterious Island (1873) is a crucial prediction for Vernian metallurgists. Verne would have known that Catalan Forge processes before 1885 used charcoal. Verne’s use of coal would have been a significant breakthrough in the metallurgy of the future.
It doesn’t seem to be an error that Verne used coal. Verne in Mysterious Island correctly details the chemistry that would only be entirely accepted in the 1900s. The most remarkable passage for me in Mysterious Island (1873) is Verne's description of blast furnace chemistry: “Thus arranged, under the influence of the air from the bellows, the coal would change into carbonic acid [carbon dioxide], then into oxide of carbon [carbon monoxide], which would release the oxygen from the oxide of iron."[ii] The understanding of the role of carbon monoxide in blast furnace chemistry was being researched at the University of Paris and other universities in the 1850s.[iii] The complete theory of carbon monoxide reduction was not commonly known until Octave Leopold Boudouard of the University of Paris published his “Boudouard Reaction” in 1901. However, there appears to be a translation and/or an etymological issue with the meaning of “charbon,” which, depending on other factors, may mean pure carbon, charcoal, or coal.
The French word charbon is used in Verne’s description of iron making on Mysterious Island.[iv] Using the word charbon would suggest a possible translation problem. Still, most translations, such as the W. G. Kingston translation of 1875, the Stephen White translation of 1875, and the Jordan Stump translation of 2001, use coal.
French habits of speech, a knowledge of 19th-century metallurgy, French industrial history, and French idiosyncrasies play a role. And maybe even more importantly, an understanding of the etymology of the French words- charbon and houille[v]. In 19th-century coal technology, you have an evolutionary mix of the English words charcoal, coal, anthracite coal, bituminous coal, coke, and carbon, and the French words charbon and houille regarding their technological use. The confusion with the word coal in technical writing was noted as early as 1860.[vi] One issue is clear: before the 20th century, French to English dictionaries used “charbon” for coal and charcoal[vii]. Verne himself uses charbon for both as well. In my French texts, Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864), 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1870), and Mysterious Island (1873), “charbon” and “houille” are both used for coal. In Underground City (1877), Verne uses “houille” throughout and even discusses the Etymology of the word- “houille.” By the 1880s, the use of “charbon” for coal significantly declined in favor of “houille” for coal, which may reflect the industrial conversion from charcoal to coal in furnaces in the early 1880s. I am currently researching these issues.[viii] IDEAS????
[i] Anthracite ("coal-like") is a hard, very low content of volatile compact variety of coal that has a high luster. It has the highest carbon content (between 92.1% and 98%), the fewest impurities, and the highest caloric content of all types of coal, which also includes bituminous coal and lignite.
[ii] Ibid 8
[iii] Rémy Nicolle, “History of the iron furnace using the physical-chemical blast furnace model,” Metallurgical Research Technology, 120, 108 (2023)
[iv] Amazon Bilingual edition of Mysterious Island, Jan 2, 2015, p. 464
[v] There is one fascinating paragraph in Underground City (1877) where Verne addresses the use of the word “houille” itself. "Whether the French word for coal (houille) is derived from farrier Houillos, who lived in Belgium in the twelfth century, we may assume the that the [coal] beds of Great Britain were the first ever worked.
[vi] A. Hume, “ A Few Notes on Coal,” Ulster Journal of Archaeology, First Series, Vol. 8 (1860), pp. 172-174 “Many of the mistakes which have arisen on this subject are attributable to the ambiguity of
the term employed. Thus a "coal" may mean, first, an ember or coal-of-fire,; second, a piece of charcoal; or, third, the mineral coal in any of its forms”
[vii] The Book of Royal Phraseology (1828) uses "chardon de terre" for coal.
[viii] I am presenting working with the Journal of Historical Metallurgy on the translation and lexicon of coal/charcoal in steel and ironmaking processes.
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